The Chronicles of the Bracelet Book 4: The Prince
by Jesus' girl 4ever
Summary: Prince Caspian with my OCs in it. AU
1. Returning

**The Prince**

Disclaimer: I don't own!

_Author's Note: If you haven't read my stories The Chronicles of the Bracelet Books 1-3 and The Knighting, this will probably not make sense._

**Chapter 1: Returning**

"Let's play! All you three do anymore is sit around and talk about secret stuff I can't listen to!" John begged.

"Fine. What do you want to play?" Jack asked.

"Maybe boys versus girls?"

"Um, okay." The girls ran, staying together. The two boys chased them, but Jack's heart was only half in it. He glanced up and saw pink in a tree. "Hey, John, why don't you go look that way, and I'll look around here?"

"Okay!" He scampered off, and Jack waited until he was out of earshot. "Okay, he's gone; you can come down now." All three slid out of the tree. "Thanks." Lecia said. "Hey. Where are we?"

"Not in Tennessee."

"Hey, could we be in Narnia?"

"Perhaps; perhaps." They heard people talking. A cliff was direct in front of them. They noticed an apple tree. "Wait; weren't there a bunch of apple trees in the ruins of Cair Paravel in _Prince Caspian_?" Lecia questioned.

"There were! Hmm. I wonder-. Shh. That's the Pevensies! Who's up for scaring them?" All 4 raised their hands. "Okay, let's hide in the bushes and jump out and scare them." Jack said.

"I say! I do believe that's an apple tree!" a young girl's voice said, almost as soon as the cousins were hidden.

"And this is not the only tree. Look there-and there." a boy's voice added.

"Why, there are dozens of them. This must have been an orchard-long, long, ago, before the place wild and the wood grew up." a different, older girl's voice said.

"Then this was once an inhabited island." yet another voice, another boy's, this one older, said.

"And what's that?" the first voice said.

"By Jove, it's a wall. An old stone wall." the last one said. Jack held up his hand and counted down on his fingers _3, 2, 1._ The 4 jumped out and yelled, "Boo!"

"Ahh!" the first voice, Lucy screamed.

"It's okay, Lu. It's just Lece and cousins." Peter said, the last voice. "Do you know where we are?"

"Um, we do, but we probably shouldn't tell." Joanna said.

"Oh." There was a rustling in the bushes behind the kings and queens. "No, we didn't do that." Julia preempted the question. A young boy stepped out of the bush. "John!" four voices yelled. "What are you doing here?" Jack continued.

"The better question is: What are you guys doing here?" John replied.

"We've been here before."

"So was this what you've been talking about when I couldn't listen?"

"Yeah."

"Well, shall we explore?" Peter cut in.

"You bet!" Lecia said enthusiastically.


	2. Finding

**The Prince**

Disclaimer: I only own the cousins and the two that are mentioned in the end of this chapter.

**Chapter 2: Finding**

"This wasn't a garden. It was a castle and this must have been the courtyard." Susan said.

"I see what you mean," said Peter. "Yes. That is the remains of a tower. And there is what used to be a flight of steps going up to the top of the walls. And look at those other steps- the broad, shallow ones- going up to that doorway. It must have been the door into the great hall."

"Ages and ages ago, by the look of it." said Edmund.

"Yes, ages and ages ago. I wish we could find out who the people were that lived in this castle, and how long ago." The cousins, minus John, gave each other _When they learn who, they will flip!_ looks, then burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Lucy asked.

"We'll tell you later." Lecia said.

"I don't see anything funny about it. I was going to say it gives me a queer feeling."

"Does it, Lu? Because it does the same to me. It is the queerest thing that has happened this queer day. I wonder where we are and what it all means." Peter looked at his little sister. While they had been talking, they had also been walking. They entered part of this structure that had actually been a building. "I wonder, was it really the hall? What is that terrace kind of thing?" Susan asked.

Peter said in an excited voice, "Why, you silly, don't you see? That was the dais where the High Table was, where the King and great lords sat. Anyone would think you had forgotten that we ourselves were once Kings and Queens and sat on a dais just like that, in our great hall."

"In our castle of Cair Paravel at the mouth of the great river of Narnia. How could I forget?"

"How it all comes back! We could pretend we were in Cair Paravel now. This hall must have been very like the great hall we feasted in." Lucy put in.

"But unfortunately without the feast," The cousins snickered at Edmund's poor attempt at humor. "It's getting late, you know. Look how long the shadows are. And have you noticed that it isn't so hot?"

"We shall need a campfire it we've got to spend the night here. I've got matches. Let's go and see if we can collect some dry wood." Peter spoke common sense. For the next half-hour everyone searched. As Lecia scoured the ground, she could hear the voice she had heard so many times before in her head. _Lecia, you and your cousins must never reveal to the Pevensies what you know about will happen, even if bad things happen._ "In other words, feign ignorance?" _Yes. _"Is this the books or movies?" _Books. _"Good. We promise."

Later, after a supper of apples, Susan returned, crying, from getting a drink. "Look, I found it by the well." She handed it to Peter and sat down. Ed, Lu, and John crowded closer to see what it was. The others already knew. It was the golden chess-knight. "Well, I'm- I'm jiggered." Peter said.

"Why! It's exactly like one of the golden chessmen we used to play with when we were Kings and Queens at Cair Paravel." Lucy said.

"Cheer up, Su." Peter said.

"I can't help it. It brought back- oh, such lovely times. And I remembered playing chess with fauns and good giants, and the mer-people singing in the sea, and my beautiful horse- and –and-."

"Now, it's about time we four, oops, nine, start using our brains."

"What about?" queried Ed.

"Have none of you guessed where we are?"

"Go on, go on. I've felt for hours that there was some wonderful mystery hanging over this place." Lucy said.

"Fire away, Peter. We're all listening." Edmund coaxed.

"We are in the ruins of Cair Paravel itself."

"But, I say, I mean, how do you make that out? This place has been ruined for ages. Look at all those big trees growing right up against the gate. Look at the very stones. Anyone can see that nobody has lived here for hundreds of years." As Edmund said this, the cousins assumed large grins. They knew exactly where they were.

"I know. That is the difficulty. But let's leave that out for the moment. I want to take the points one by one. First point: this hall is exactly the same shape and size as the hall at Cair Paravel. Just picture a roof on this, and a colored pavement instead of grass, and tapestries on the walls, and you get our royal banqueting hall. Second point: The castle well is exactly where our well was, a little to the south of the great hall, and it is exactly the same size and shape. Third point: Susan has just found one of our old chessmen- or something as like one of them as two peas. Fourth point: Don't you remember- it was the very day before the ambassadors came from the King of Calormen- don't you remember planting the orchard outside the north gate of Cair Paravel? The greatest of all wood-people, Pomona herself, came to put good spells on it. It was those very decent little chaps the moles who did the actual digging. Can you have forgotten that funny old Lilygloves, the chief mole, leaning on his spade and saying, 'Believe me, your Majesty, you'll be glad of these fruit trees one day.' And by Jove he was right."

"I do! I do!" Lucy said and clapped her hands.

"But look here, Peter. This must be all rot. To begin with, we didn't plant the orchard slap up against the gate. We wouldn't have been such fools."

The cousins started muttering things like, "Are you sure about that last part?", and "Leave it to Ed to put a damper on things."

"No, of course not. But it has grown up to the gate since." Peter replied.

"And for another thing, Cair Paravel wasn't on an island."

"Yes, I've been thinking about that. But it was a what-do-you-call-it, a peninsula. Jolly near an island. Couldn't it have been made an island since our time? Somebody has dug a channel."

"But half a moment! You keep on saying _since our time_. But it's only a year ago since we came back from Narnia. And you want to make out that in one year castles have fallen down, and great forests have grown up, and little trees that we saw planted ourselves have turned into a big old orchard, and goodness knows what else. It's all impossible."

"You guys have been uncharacteristically quiet." Peter observed about the cousins.

"We aren't allowed to tell you what we know." Lecia said.

"Wait, we're not?" Jo said, obviously mad.

"Aslan's orders, not mine." Lecia responded.

"There's one thing. If this is Cair Paravel there ought to be a door at this end of the dais. In fact, we should be sitting with our backs against it at this moment. You know- the door that led down to the treasure chamber." Lucy said.

"I suppose there isn't a door." said Peter, rising.

"We can soon find out." Edmund said, tapping the wall with a stick. Part of it sounded hollow. "Great Scott!" Edmund said.

"We must clear this ivy away."

"Oh, do let's leave it alone. We can try it in the morning. If we've got to spend the night here I don't want an open door at my back that anything might come out of, besides the draft and the damp. And it'll soon be dark." Susan griped.

"Susan! How can you?" Lucy asked, horrified. The boys didn't listen, and they and Lecia started to work on the ivy. Peter used his pocketknife and the others their hands until Peter's knife broke; then they used Ed's, but when Edmund's broke, all he said was, "Great. Now we don't have a knife."

"What? I thought you never went anywhere without one?" Lecia said, turning to Jack, who pulled out his knife. "I don't. They never asked." Jack said. Soon the door was cleared, and Peter said, "Locked, of course."

"But the wood's all rotten. We can pull it to bits in no time, and it will make extra firewood. Come on." His little brother refuted. Soon they had the door pulled to bits, but not before dusk. "Now for a torch." Peter said.

"Oh, what is the good? And as Edmund said-." Susan whined.

"I'm not saying it now. I still don't understand, but we can settle that later. I suppose you're coming down, Peter, Lecia?" Edmund interrupted.

"Have you ever known me to back away from a challenge?" Lecia shot back.

"We must. Cheer up, Susan. It's no good behaving like kids now that we are back in Narnia. You're a Queen here. And anyway no one could go to sleep with a mystery like this on their minds." Peter said. They tried to use sticks as torches, but in the end had to use Ed's flashlight. He went first, then Lucy, then Susan, Julia, Joanna, John, Jack, Lecia, and Peter was at the end. "I've come to the top of the stairs." Edmund said.

"Count them." Peter called.

"1, 2, 3" said Edmund as he went cautiously down. "16, and this is the bottom."

"Then it really must be Cair Paravel. There were 16." Lucy said excitedly. They all felt their way down the stairs, and when they were down, Edmund slowly flashed his torch around. "Oh!" the four said. One look had confirmed that they truly were in Narnia. Lecia, Jack, Julia, and Joanna wasted no time finding their weapons. The Pevensies finally shook themselves out of their stupor to get the gifts. Lecia watched Lucy go to get her cordial and- Wait! "Where is the dagger, Lu?"

"Oh, I broke it after you guys left."

Lecia looked at the kings. "Is there something I should know?"

"She broke it trying to save my life. Other than that, no." Peter gave his sister a proud look.

"Well, I had to try to delay that Calormene until Ed got there, didn't I?"

"I think that was brave, Lu." Lecia said.

"Thanks, Lece." Lucy looked at Susan. "Oh, Susan, where's the horn?"

"Oh, bother, bother, bother. I remember now. I took it with me the last day of all, the day we went hunting the White Stag. It must have got lost when we blundered back into that other place-England, I mean."

Edmund whistled. "Just the sort of thing that might come in handy in a place like this."

"Never mind. I've still got the bow."

Peter said, "Won't the string be perished, Su?" But it wasn't. Next, Peter took his sword and shield. He drew his sword and said, "It is my sword Rhindon; with it I killed the Wolf." After he said this, they went back up to get some sleep. At least, that was the intent. But after tossing and turning for what felt like 5 hours, though it was really only about 10 minutes, Lecia sat up. She heard a whispered hiss from Peter's general direction. "You're awake?"

"Yes. I didn't think you were." She watched him stand up. "Come on."

"Why?" She did not want to leave the warm fire.

"I assumed you would want to know what transpired during your absence from Narnia."

"Oh, yeah." Lecia stood up and silently followed him, far enough away that they wouldn't wake the others. "Brr. So, how long after we left did you guys stay?"

"Here." Peter threw a blanket over her shoulders. "And we stayed for 12 more years."

"Thanks. And, wow. So, Lu was 23, Ed was 25, Su was 27, and you were 28."

"Good math."

"And I thought adjusting from 16 back to 13 was hard. Wait; if you were there for 12 more years, who kept you all out of trouble, not to mention alive?"

"Katie was still there." He proceeded to tell her of many times when Katieanna and Adrian had saved his and his sibling's lives.

Lecia scrutinized Peter carefully every time he mentioned Katieanna. "Peter, if you were 28, you were old enough to get married, weren't you?"

He looked at her, amazed. "How did you guess?"

She smirked. "Every time you mentioned Katie, a light went on in your eyes. It doesn't take a genius to put 2 and 2 together and come up with 4."

"You're right; she and I did get married. But, we weren't the only ones."

"Who were the others?"

"Susan and Adrian."

"Wow. Sounds like we missed a lot."

"You did." Just then, they both yawned. "We better get some sleep."

"Yeah. Hey, Pete, did either of you have kids?"

"Susan had a little boy named Aiden, and Katie was pregnant when we left."

"Oh. So I wasn't the only who missed things."

"No, you weren't." They laid down and went to sleep.

_Author's Note: In case you can't tell, I am taking most of the dialogue straight from the book. So, this was the longest chapter yet! Oh, and don't forget Aiden and Katieanna. They will play an important role in later books._


	3. Meeting

**The Prince**

**Chapter 3: Meeting**

When they all woke up the next day, Lucy said, "It's a glorious morning."

Edmund followed that up with, "We've simply got to get off this island." They all went and got a drink from the well. As they looked at the mainland, Edmund said, "We'll have to swim."

"It would be all right for Su, but I don't know about the rest of us." Peter said.

"Anyway, there may be currents. Father says it's never wise to bathe in a place you don't know." Susan reminded.

"But, Peter, look here. I know I couldn't swim for nuts at home- in England, I mean. But couldn't we all swim long ago- if it was long ago- when we were Kings and Queens in Narnia? We could ride then, too, and do all sorts of things. Don't you think-" Lucy said.

"Ah, but we were sort of grown-up then. We reigned for years and years and learned to do things. Aren't we just back at our proper ages again now?"

"Oh! I've just seen it all." Edmund said, catching everyone's attention. The cousins exchanged a 'Finally!' look.

"Seen what?" Peter asked.

"Why, the whole thing. You know what we were puzzling about last night, that it was only a year ago since we left Narnia but everything looks as if no one had lived in Cair Paravel for hundreds of years? Well, don't you see? You know that, however long we seemed to have lived in Narnia, when we got back through the wardrobe it seemed to have taken no time at all?"

"Go on. I think I'm beginning to understand." Susan encouraged.

"And that means that, once you're out of Narnia, you have no idea how Narnian time is going. Why shouldn't hundreds of years have gone past in Narnia while only one year has passed for us in England?"

Peter said, "By Jove, Ed. I believe you've got it. In that case it really was hundreds of years ago that we lived in Cair Paravel. And now we're coming back to Narnia just as if we were Crusaders or Anglo-Saxons or Ancient Britons or someone coming back to modern England!"

"How excited they'll be to see us-" Lucy started, but was cut off by everyone else's "Hush!" as something happened. A boat was rowed into sight by two men with a bundle that moved. The cousins exchanged glances. They knew what that bundle was. All of them moved back into the wood. The man with the bundle said, "This'll do."

"What about tying a stone to his feet, Corporal?" the other asked.

"We don't need that, and we haven't brought one. He'll drown sure enough without a stone, as long as we've tied the cords right." Then he rose, preparing to drop the bundle, which actually was a dwarf, and had an arrow from Susan's bow _Thunk!_ on his helmet. He and his partner immediately forgot the dwarf and swam for the mainland. Susan and Peter dove into the water and dragged the boat to the island. Jack immediately went to work on the dwarf's bindings with his pocketknife. The dwarf sat up and said, "Well, whatever they say, you don't feel like ghosts. Anyway, ghosts or not, you've saved my life and I'm extremely obliged to you."

"But why should we be ghosts?" Lucy asked.

"I've been told all my life that these woods along the shore are as full as ghosts as they were of trees. That's what the story is. And that's why, when they want to get rid of anyone, they usually bring him down here (like they were doing with me) and say they'll leave him to the ghosts. But I always wondered if they didn't really drown 'em or cut their throats. I never quite believed in the ghosts. But those two cowards you've just shot believed all right. They were more frightened of taking me to my death than I was of going!"

"Oh, so that's why they both ran away." Susan said.

"Eh? What's that?"

"They got away to the mainland." said Edmund.

"I wasn't shooting to kill, you know." Su said.

"Hm. That's not so good. That may mean trouble later on. Unless they hold their tongues for their own sakes." The dwarf said.

"What were they going to drown you for?" Peter asked.

"Oh, I'm a dangerous criminal, I am. But that's a long story. Meantime, I was wondering if perhaps you were going to ask me to breakfast? You've no idea what an appetite it gives one, being executed."

"There's only apples." Lucy said.

"Better than nothing, but not so good as fresh fish. It looks as if I'll have to ask you to breakfast instead. I saw some fishing tackle in that boat. And anyway, we must take her round to the other side of the island. We don't want anyone from the mainland coming down and seeing her."

"I ought to have thought of that myself." Peter said. They did as he suggested, Peter rowing the boat to the other side, and then they fished, with a fine catch of pavenders to show for it. The dwarf cleaned them, and said, "Now, what we want next is some firewood."

"We've got some up at the castle." Edmund said.

The dwarf whistled. "Beards and bedsteads! So there really is a castle, after all?"

"It's only a ruin." Lucy said.

"And who on earth-? No matter. Breakfast first. But one thing before we go on. Can you lay your hand on your hearts and tell me I'm really alive? Are you sure I wasn't drowned and we're not all ghosts together?" After they reassured him, the dwarf, Pevensies, and cousins went back up to the castle, with Ed's hat as a fish basket. The dwarf looked around, and after his comments about how spooky the castle was, they built a fire and roasted the fish. It was messy, but worth it. After the meal had been finished, the dwarf lit a pipe and said, "Now."

"You tell us your story first, and we'll tell you ours." Peter said.

"Well, as you've saved my life it is only fair that you should have your own way. But I hardly know where to begin. First of all I'm a messenger of King Caspian's."

"Who's he?" five voices asked. Four of the cousins just rolled their eyes at each other.

"Caspian the Tenth, King of Narnia, and long may he reign! That is to say, he ought to be king of Narnia and we hope he will be. At present he is only king of us old Narnians-"

"What do you mean by old Narnians, please?" Lu asked.

"Why, that's us. We're a kind of rebellion, I suppose."

"I see. And Caspian is the chief Old Narnian." Peter said.

"Well, in a manner of speaking. But he's really a New Narnian himself, a Telmarine, if you follow me."

"I don't." Edmund said frankly.

"It's worse than the War of the Roses." said Lu.

"Oh dear. I'm doing this very badly. Look here: I think I'll have to go right back to the beginning and tell you how Caspian grew up in his uncle's court and how he comes to be on our side at all. But it'll be a long story."

"All the better. We love stories." So the dwarf, whom we shall now call Trumpkin, began his tale.

_Author's Note: I'm going to skip his story, but if you really want to read it, you should consult the book _Prince Caspian _chapters 4, 5, 6, and 7. See why I'm skipping it?_


	4. Teaching

**The Prince**

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the cousins.

**Chapter 4: Teaching**

"-and here we are. And without my armor, for of course they took that." Trumpkin said as he concluded his tale.

"Great Scott! So it was the horn- your own horn, Su- that dragged us all off that seat on the platform yesterday morning! I can hardly believe it, yet it all fits in." Peter said.

"I don't know why you shouldn't believe it, if you believe in magic at all. Aren't there lots of stories about magic forcing people out of one place- out of one world- into another? I mean, when a magician in _The Arabian Nights_ calls up a Jinn, it has to come. We had to come, just like that." Lucy said.

"Yes, I suppose what makes it feel so queer is that in the stories it's always someone from our world who does the calling. One doesn't really think about where the Jinn's coming from."

"And now we know what it feels like for the Jinn. Golly! It's a bit uncomfortable to know that we can be whistled away like that. It's worse than what Father says about living at the mercy of the telephone." Edmund said.

"But we want to be here, don't we, if Aslan wants us?" Lucy said.

"Meanwhile, what are we to do? I suppose I'd better go back to King Caspian and tell him no help has come." Trumpkin said.

"No help? But it has worked. And here we are." Susan said.

"Um- um- yes, to be sure. I see that. But- well- I mean-"

"But don't you yet see who we are? You _are_ silly." Lucy said.

"I suppose you are the four children out of the old stories, although I have no idea who the other five of you are, and I'm very glad to meet you of course. And it's very interesting, no doubt. But- no offense…"

"Do get on and say whatever you're going to say." Edmund said.

"Well, then, no offense, but, you know, the King and Trufflehunter and Doctor Cornelius were expecting- well, if you see what I mean, help. To put it in another way, I think they'd been imagining you as great warriors. As it is, we're awfully fond of children and all that, but just at the moment, in the middle of a war- but I'm sure you understand."

"You mean you think we're no good."

"Now pray don't be offended. I assure you, my dear little friends-"

"_Little_ from you is really a bit too much. I suppose you don't believe we won the Battle of Beruna? Well, you can say what you like about me because I know-"

"There's no good losing our tempers. Let's fit him out with fresh armor and fit ourselves out from the treasure chamber, and have our talk after that." Peter cut in.

"I don't quite see the point." Edmund began.

Lucy whispered to him, "Hadn't we better do what Peter says? He is the High King, you know. And I think he has an idea." The cousins giggled. They knew what the plan was. They outfitted Trumpkin, Edmund, and Lucy, and the rest put armor on. As they reentered the bright sunlight, Edmund said to Trumpkin, "I've got something to ask you. Kids like us don't often have the chance of meeting a great warrior like you. Would you have a little fencing match with me? It would be frightfully decent."

"But, lad, these swords are sharp." Trumpkin objected.

"I know. But I'll never get anywhere near you and you'll be quite clever enough to disarm me without doing me any damage."

"It's a dangerous game. But, since you make such a point of it, I'll try a pass or two." Both of them drew their swords and everyone else backed off. It was quite fun to watch. Lecia, Julia, Joanna, and Jack could see Edmund returning to his former strength and skill. "Oh, do be careful!" Susan shouted.

Edmund suddenly disarmed him in a move that no one could see unless they knew how to do it, like Pete, Lece, Jack, Julie, and Jo did. "Not hurt, I hope, my dear little friend?" Edmund panted.

"I see the point. You know a trick I never learned." Trumpkin responded.

"That's quite true. The best swordsman in the world may be disarmed by a trick that's new to him. I think it's only fair to give Trumpkin a chance at something else. Will you have a shooting match with my sister? There are no tricks in archery, you know." Peter said.

"Ah, you're jokers, you are. I begin to see. As if I didn't know she could shoot, after what happened this morning. All the same, I'll have a try."

"What's to be the target?" Peter asked after they were all assembled in the courtyard.

"I think that apple hanging over the wall on the branch there would do." Susan said.

"That'll do nicely, lass. You mean the yellow one near the middle of the arch?" Trumpkin said.

"No, not that. The red one up above- over the battlement."

"Looks more like a cherry than an apple." Trumpkin muttered. He shot first and very narrowly missed it. Then it was Susan's turn. _Thump,_ the arrow fell with the apple in it. "Oh, well done, Su!" the other children called.

"It wasn't really any better than yours. I think there was a tiny breath of wind as you shot." Susan said to Trumpkin.

"No, there wasn't. Don't tell me. I know when I am fairly beaten. I won't even say that the scar of my last wound catches me a bit when I get my arm well back." The Dwarf said.

"Oh, are you wounded? Do let me look." Lucy said.

"It's not a sight for little girls. There I go talking like a fool again. I suppose you're as likely to be a great surgeon as your brother was to be a great swordsman or your sister to be a great archer." Lucy put a single drop of cordial on his wound. "Thank you for my breakfast, my cure, and my lesson." The Dwarf said. Then the 10 of them started making their way across the water to find King Caspian.

_Author's Note: I'm sorry for the tardiness of this chapter! I really am!_


End file.
